1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the transportation and storage of N-phenyl maleimide in a liquid state and to a composition to be used therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
N-phenyl maleimide is a compound useful as raw material for synthetic resins, medicines, and agricultural chemicals, for example. The N-phenyl maleimide has been heretofore handled generally in such forms as powder, flakes, and tablets. These forms of N-phenyl maleimide contain fine powder of N-phenyl maleimide. The N-phenyl maleimide in a solid state, particularly in the process of transportation, undergoes gradual comminution and eventually gives rise to a large amount of the fine powder of N-phenyl maleimide.
The N-phenyl maleimide itself is stimulative to the human body. Particularly when the fine powder thereof is inhaled, it stimulates the nasal cavity and the throat and consequently incites coughs and sneezes. When this powder is suffered to adhere to and remain on the skin, it causes inflammation of the affected area of the skin. Any person called upon to handle N-phenyl maleimide of the kind containing such a fine powder as mentioned above, therefore, must pay close attention to preventing the compound from adhering to the skin to the fullest possible extent. Immense labor is expended, therefore, for preventing the N-phenyl maleimide in transit from producing fine powder and, after completion of the transportation, for divesting the transported N-phenyl maleimide of the fine powder produced at all during the transportation.
In most cases, a solid substance to be transported is packed in paper bags, steel drums, and returnable containers. During the work of packing, therefore, the exposure of the worker's body to the N-phenyl maleimide is inevitable and the adhesion of the fine powder of N-phenyl maleimide to the body cannot be avoided. Further, an attempt at transporting a solid substance through the medium of a pipeline with a view to keeping handlers from exposure to the solid substance is difficult basically and the solid substance is so mischievous as to induce occlusion of the pipeline. For stable transportation of the solid substance through the pipeline, therefore, harsh restrictions are imposed on the transportation as to shape, size, and specific gravity of the solid substance. It is only logical to conclude, therefore, that the method for transporting or conveying solid N-phenyl maleimide at normal room temperature entails various difficulty problems. This conclusion holds good with the method for storing this substance under the same conditions.
The conventional methods for transportation and storage of N-phenyl maleimide encounter numerous problems. Especially the handling of this compound on a commercial scale entails many disadvantages.
An object of this invention, is to provide a novel method for transportation or storage of N-phenyl maleimide and a composition to be used therefor.
Another object of this invention is to provide a safe and simple method for transportation or storage of N-phenyl maleimide which has no possibility of inducing the occurrence of fine powder of the compound during the course of transportation or storage and a composition to be used therefor.